Latest Events

HUSTLE FOR INIGO: Hiphop is truly from the Heart

I remember making a souvenir program for one of the hiphop events we've organized before and on the draft I placed, "HIPHOP IS FROM THE HEART". At that time, I was just really coming up with a slogan for the sake of the event and for the material to be done and ready for publishing. However, when I went to HUSTLE FOR INIGO, I found out what the statement I wrote a year ago actually meant.

Baby Raphael Inigo is the newly born son of Mellord Ivan O. Zaragga and Minnie Queenie Martos-Zarraga. He has been diagnosed with diagnosed with Biliary Atresia on September 15, 2010 by his pediatritian upon observation to have had prolonged jaundice, acholic stool, and darkened urine. Biliary Atresia is a rare liver disease wherein the Bile, which helps in the digestion of fats, secreted by the liver could not pass through the Bile Duct going to the intestines. This condition causes the liver to eventually malfunction. The initial remedy for this condition is to conduct a Kasai Procedure wherein they connect the liver directly to the intestines but eventually patients who undergo this procedure would in the long run still need a liver transplant upon reaching a certain age. Baby Inigo was also found out to have an abnormal movement of urine from the bladder into ureters or kidneys. Urine normally travels from the kidneys via the ureters to the bladder. In vesicoureteral reflux the direction of urine flow is reversed which causes Urinary Tract Infection recurrence and has been the reason for his multiple confinements. They also found Meckel's diverticulum which is a small bulge in the small intestine present at birth. It is the most frequent malformation of the gastrointestinal tract. These conditions can only be addressed through operation. On September 28, 2010 a group of Pediatric – Surgeons attempted to conduct the Kasai Procedure, but after an hour, the parents were immediately called to the operating room only to find out that the operation was not successful. The doctors told them that his Gall Bladder and his Common Bile Duct did not develop which were both very essential to the operation. They had no choice but to close him up and immediately recommend their son for Liver Transplant. We were advised to consult a Liver Specialist and we were informed that Pediatric Liver Transplants were usually done abroad since there has been no successful operation to date here in the Philippines. It was usually done in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, or in the U.S. which would cost more or less starting from PhP 6,000,000 and can go up to PhP 10,000,000 depending on where the operation would be done.

Jug Ramos, the Founder and CEO of Butta-Flava Etertainment, has been Queenie's teacher. She extended a hand by putting up a hiphop benefit concert for most in the hiphop community to participate.

According to Jug, the concert was able to raise P30,700 + more in transit. She is so thankful to everyone who bought the tickets. Ms. Jug believes that all the people who were there that night were stars shining bright for Inigo.

Now let me re-iterate my former belief. Having a community gather for a cause like this, it's not just any kind ogf hiphop, but PINOY HIPHOP is what truly comes from the heart. I am not a fan but because of how this kind of genre in music or in dance has help move the hearts of people and raise that amount of money, NOW I AM.